Disturbed’s David Draiman on backing tracks, Taylor Swift, origins of The Sickness, Nu-Metal

Disturbed frontman David Draiman chatted with me literally hours before a flight to some shows in New Zealand. He fills me in on the origins of the iconic piercings, the shaved head and of course the “oo-ah-ah-ah.“ He also makes his feelings on backing tracks and live music very clear. He still loves Taylor Swift and plenty of other artists in the newer generation. Listen to their latest chart-topping single “Don’t Tell Me“ featuring Ann Wilson from Heart Connect with Disturbed: -------------------------------------------- Theme Music by: LOVELESS TikTok @jesealee Instagram YouTube @JeseaLee Podcast on Spotify Spotify Playlists: Subscribe to my newsletter: Merch: Everything else: 00:00 Intro 02:00 Tour with Falling in Reverse & Plush 03:50 physical and mental health update 06:19 backing tracks 10:40 “Don’t Tell Me“ with Ann Wilson 12:40 Collabing with new artists 13:40 dream collabs 14:50 Taylor Swift 16:30 Travis Kelce is Down with the sickness 18:40 “The Sickness“ anniversary 22:00 Why he shaved his head & iconic piercings 25:00 The origin of “oo-ah-ah-ah-ah“ 27:30 Disturbed memes 29:00 social media 32:25 personal life on display 33:05 the importance of live music 37:04 current state of music consumption 38:30 Why A.I. will never work for rock music 40:55 is Disturbed a nu-metal band